


Promised

by literarygoddess



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Broken Promises, Episode: s05e05 Save The Cat, F/F, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Oblivious Adora (She-Ra), Poor Catra (She-Ra), So much angst, adora breaks her legs, adora needs help too, catra needs help, i just wanted to write some pain, pre-dont go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29651112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literarygoddess/pseuds/literarygoddess
Summary: She promised to take Catra home… She promised.~~~~~~~I wrote this to take place right before Noelle's fic and really because I needed some angst therapy. I wrote half of this in tears and I just finished season 5 last night and I am distraught. Please enjoy this angst fest. :)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	Promised

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Don't Go](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24280306) by [Annacharlier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annacharlier/pseuds/Annacharlier). 



It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to be a good hero and cut Prime down at the knees and take Catra home for good. She didn’t belong in a cold and seamless place like this. Catra was worth so much more than rotting away in some space prison--she saved Glimmer’s life. There was good in her and Adora knew it. 

But the Catra staring at her now, a facsimile of the warm face she had grown up with and even corrupted past the Catra she had come to know in the last couple years who was so twisted by anger and ego, was having Adora feeling the icy tendrils of failure wrap around her heart. This wasn’t Catra, she who looked so scooped out and hollowed into a perfect little soldier for Horde Prime to taunt her with. The lambent flashing of her eyes didn’t even seem to be broken by blinking; he had made her into something barbarous. Catra’s voice which had one clawed its way out of her throat in a way that Adora had learned to find comforting somehow even in the midst of battle now slid out like smooth silk, but it burned more than the rage she used to sling at her ever did. 

_ “Don’t you see.. This is for the best.”  _ Adora barely hears the jab above the jackhammering of her heart. Catra’s hand should be warm and soft against her cheek with the light scrape of her claws, but now all it is is sandpaper. She’s screaming at her in her head to fight it fight it fight it, this isn’t you, but she can’t repeat her plea because her throat is closing up and her entire field of vision is narrowing to a pinpoint. Some distant part of her is aware of the tears welling up in her eyes, and they’re hot as they slip down her cheeks; she’s about to lose it and this time she doesn't have She-Ra to help punch her way through it. Focus, Adora, she tells herself, and swallows hard.

“Let her go,” she demands. She lurches forward, boots slipping on the floor beneath her as the clone guards tug her back again. 

“Shall we make a deal, Adora?” Prime has his hand closed around the back of Catra’s neck in a possessive way that has Adora’s skin crawling. “I will give her to you, if you want her.” She doesn’t want to be hearing this, her heart is roaring louder in her ears, and she’s trying to find a way to fix it. Space is cold and dead; she’s losing hope. “But first you must do something for me.” This is for Catra, she reminds herself, it’s not for you. You’re saving her because she is good no matter what anyone else thinks and you need to do this or you’re a failure for good. No She-Ra and a failed mission up here would be ruinous. If you can’t win this, maybe you don't deserve to keep going back to the Rebellion, and why would they want you then anyway? “You will give me She-Ra.” 

Adora’s eyes are still clogged with unshed tears; she jerks her chin up to Prime in defiance. “Never.” Her gaze lands on Catra, blank face and glowing eyes now contorted in pain while within Prime’s grasp and her ribs ache. She can still negotiate out of this. Glimmer, Bow, and Entrapta are still out there. 

“Very well.” 

Oh that does not sound good. 

She doesn’t even hear him snap because in the same moment her ear is erupting in white hot pain like this was planned.  _ Her comm _ . She falls so hard, yanking the faulty device out of her ear and throwing it across the floor, that the clones actually drop her. Of course it was planned. Adora clutches her throbbing ear, gritting her teeth to the sound of her comm crunching under Prime’s foot. Then, she’s crestfallen because that means that her friends-- 

“You miscalculated. I see all.  **I know all.** ” Adora looks back to Catra, furiously trying to will her normal self back so they can just run. “You thought yourself worthy to challenge me, but you are nothing but a false hero.” 

Prime continues to gloat, but she can’t help but to entertain the idea that he’s right. How can she be anything except a sham at this point: Her plan is failing and she doesn’t have powers and Catra is.. she’s-- She’s in there! It’s a ploy, she can tell, to get her to suffer over the fact of it, but the real Catra is still there. She can barely hear anything that happens next, mind racing over a million possibilities as Prime and his clones leave them alone. She has to get the real Catra to come out and stay out long enough to get Glimmer and Bow and Entrapta and get out. She has to hope they all stay alive that long-- _woah_ one thing at a time.

Adora’s jaw explodes in pain just like the stars in her eyes and she stumbles back, off balance. “Catra…” She’s attacking her, just like old times, but this time she isn’t holding back to any capacity. She goes again, and Adora catches her. She holds on tight, but not enough to hurt her; she can’t hurt her now. She’s going to take her home.    
  


Catra takes the opportunity to throw her down and goes to swing at her face. Adora scrabbles away in time to grab her again--harder this time--and tries to get the real her to listen. “Catra, listen to me, I know you’re in there and I’m not leaving without you.” And to that, Catra laughs. It’s hollow and unfeeling, just like that look in her eyes. It scares Adora. Tears gather in her eyes. “Everything is gonna be okay.” She says it as much to Catra as to herself because she won’t be able to make it through this if she can’t believe it too. 

Beneath the grip Adora has on her wrist, Catra’s bones pop sickeningly as she twists herself harshly to get out of her hands. It’s robotic and cruel and it damages her body, but the Catra who feels it is screaming under layers and layers of Prime’s control too deep for Adora to see. All she can do is blink the hot tears out of her eyes and swallow the bile that rises at the feeling of Catra’s wrist breaking because of how hard she was holding her and how desperate Catra was to get away. Adora cries out as Catra strikes her again, knocking the wind from her lungs only to be unable to catch another breath as Catra slithers up behind her and clutches her to her chest. “Everything is already okay,” she croons. “We are with Prime now.” 

Adora cringes away from that voice, but Catra’s grip on her loosens when she doesn’t move to attack her back. The embrace becomes intimate, and Adora’s stomach turns. 

“There is no need for you to suffer Adora.” Catra’s claws graze over her neck, and Adora’s pulse throbs painfully. “Come into the light with me.”

She can’t take it. She can’t keep listening to this. She needs the real Catra back; this… this  _ clone _ is driving her insane. There has to be a way to reverse this and bring her back. Adora grunts and reaches back to grab Catra by the back of her shirt, heaving her up and over her head. Catra’s body hits the floor hard and she skids into the bottom step of Prime’s dais with a thud. “Snap out of it Catra; I don’t wanna hurt you,” she demands in what she hopes is a strong tone.

Catra’s body shakes with laughter, head tipping back so the sound fills the room. “Oh.. but you have already hurt me.” She levels her gaze steadily on Adora, eyes pulsing with light. “Prime has set me free of that pain.” She stands as if her whole body isn't in pain--Adora knows it must be, she threw her too hard. “The pain that  _ you  _ caused.” Catra backs up, never letting Adora free from the light of her eyes that aren’t hers, until she’s at the top of the dais like the throne there is hers to take. “He will set us all free, forever--A world of peace without end.”

Adora is stricken; this is wrong,  _ so  _ wrong, and she can feel time running out. Her whole body hums with emptiness already as hope begins to drain once and for all. 

And then Catra leaps, aiming to strike Adora with her already wounded wrist. Adora steps back to narrowly miss, but Catra is already jumping towards her to keep up the fight. The room swirls around her in a haze of chrome and green while she tries to keep from bodily harming Catra anymore. She finally gets a handle on her enough to push her out of punching range and wants to get her to keep talking rather than fighting. However they happened to end on a bad rotation and she forced Catra to come skidding to the edge of their platform. She has no idea how far down it goes, and her heart is cleaved with a strike of pure fear. Catra glances over the edge, chuckles, and allows herself to tip back.

Adora knows she’s about to lose her, so she cries out Catra’s name while lunging for her. Her hair falls in her eyes; for a moment while her field of view is obscured she feels certain that it’s all over, but then her hands close around Catra’s arms and her stomach hits rock bottom while she yanks them both towards the dais once again. She sobs for the end that almost happened and for the momentary joy of stopping it, clutching Catra’s body close to her in an effort to keep her safe. 

The moment is short lived. 

Pain blooms across Adora’s back and her arms drop away from embracing Catra to go stiff at her sides. 

“Oh Adora,” Catra sneers in the same tone as Prime, “how long will you drag this out?” Catra pulls away and her face doesn't even show any flicker of emotion at the sight of tears streaming down Adora’s face aside from cold triumph which Adora knows is because of Prime. “You will destroy the ones you love in the process.” That strikes her deep; if nothing else she would give up every part of her to save her friends… It’s the weak spot Catra needs. She grips her shoulders and slams her knee hard into Adora’s abdomen, emptying her lungs and forcing her to cough. Adora’s mouth tastes metallic. Now with the upper hand, Catra grabs her by the front of her shirt and swings her out to dangle against the platform’s edge. 

The emptiness feels greater now that it's yawning at her back, and Adora grabs onto Catra’s wrist with both hands while she fights for balance. Her stomach turns sour as she feels the bone shifting beneath Catra’s skin and realizes it’s her broken one.

“She was afraid in the end,” Prime speaks directly through Catra to Adora, “and she suffered.” Adora drops her hands from Catra’s wrist, unable to take the shifting of her injury which must be screaming in pain. “Perhaps I will make her my new vessel, though she would not last me long.” Prime raises Catra’s other hand to her eyes to inspect. “What do you think, Adora?” 

Adora, sickened and angered by Prime’s words, forgets herself and grunts with the effort of pulling herself back from the ledge with enough force to send them both careening back into a tech panel. Catra’s body makes the glass crack and electricity crackles through the break, sparking against the back of her neck and making her tremble while Prime laughs through her. She almost lets go, afraid she’s done real damage again. When Catra lifts her head, her eyes are hers again, but only for a moment and Adora gasps, hope reigniting within her. 

The entire room shakes. “I am not giving up on you Catra.” Adora hopes she can hear her. 

“Then you’re a fool,” Prime replies. “You cannot stop Horde Prime. He will reign triumphant over all the universe.” The panel behind them begins to waver with bright neon green energy. “It is destiny.” Catra screams as the electricity catches her and sends arcs of it all across her back. Adora shouts and pulls them away in time to watch an upper panel explode outward, raining glass on them. Her breath comes to her ears ragged and far away as time grinds to a halt and she hugs Catra close. Then all the panels explode outwards at once, and Adora screams too, catapulting them both to the side. A couple glass shards catch against her face, slicing her, and the blood mingles with her tears. Some shards catch in her clothes and hair; all she can hope is that her body shielded Catra enough. 

When they land her hair falls free of it’s ponytail in well-defined kinks and the fly-aways stick to her face. Adora sits up quickly to check on Catra after the blast has died down, and there she spies a small silver disc embedded in Catra’s skin. It’s marked with a familiarly colored green diamond in the center which appears after each remaining arc of electricity which plays over her. Catra groans in pain--real pain--so Adora hurriedly rolls her onto her back and she holds her breath as Catra’s eyes blink open again. Her real eyes. 

The first thing out of her mouth is, “Adora you should have stayed away.” 

She can’t find it in herself to be upset at the response. All she feels is happy that the real Catra is here and holding on and speaking. 

“Why did you come back? We both know that I don’t matter,” Catra demands. 

Adora’s brow furrows sharply. “You matter to me.” She reaches out to press her palm softly against Catra’s cheek, amazed that she is finally here. Wishing beyond all wishes that she would stay. Catra begins to tear up and Adora almost smiles. 

And then it’s over again as Catra cries out in pain, eyes glossing over with neon light. She reaches out and slaps Adora square across the face, claws catching on her cheek and leaving three jagged scratches across her skin that are near indiscernible from the glass cuts. Adora falls with a strangled shout, clutching her cheek. 

She staggers to her knees, reaching for Catra who has begun to walk to the edge of the platform again. The broken glass is sticking to the pads of Catra’s feet that aren’t covered by her uniform and Adora know’s it must be painful, but that isn’t what makes her scream next. By the time Adora has dragged herself to her feet, arcs of electricity are flashing over Catra’s back again, clinging to the metal disc rooted at the base of her neck. 

“Come on, Catra,” Adora begs angrily, her body screaming from all this strain, “you’ve never listened to anyone in your life… are you really going to start now?” She waits, tense while Catra’s body seizes in pain half-bent over the edge. 

“You…” Catra groans and clenches her fists as she turns, “are  _ such  _ an idiot.” Her eyes clear once more, but they’re dull and defeated already. 

Adora does laugh this time, teary and stunted, but it is a laugh. “Yeah, I know.” 

Catra laughs too, and for a moment it is real in the same way Adora’s is. Then the bows over in pain again, moaning. 

“I’m going to take you home,” Adora vows, tears gathered at the corners of her eyes slipping and mingling with the gross mixture plastered to her cheeks. 

Catra looks up, eyes flashing neon and normal again like a glitch. “Promise?” It comes out soft and broken. 

Adora’s ribs crack open with emotion. She reaches out. “I  _ promise. _ ”

“Adora…” Catra is shivering as she begins to reach back. Before their hands meet, Catra’s hands contort like she’s a puppet and her muscles are pulled on strings. It’s more reality than metaphor. Adora sees her eyes flash again before Catra can bury them in her palms. 

Then, Catra rights herself, no longer shivering. “Disappointing,” Prime mutters. “Some creatures are destined only for destruction. The neon glow has taken on another level of haze that seems so much more sinister. Once he is finished speaking, it diminishes, and Catra’s body seizes up again as the disc in her neck goes haywire. 

Adora’s heart is in her throat while it all goes frame by frame in slow motion. She can count each arc of electricity as it passes over Catra’s body and the number of slow seconds it takes for her knees to buckle and Adora’s mouth is already open for a horrid scream to tear itself from her lungs like breaking glass when Catra’s body tumbles over the platform’s edge and she’s too far away to catch her. By the time she’s staring into the dark, gaping maw, Catra’s body is already being swallowed by shadow. She barely thinks twice before steeling herself and leaping after her to whatever end. 

She doesn’t know how long it takes her to reach the bottom. It feels like hours, but once it’s over she isn’t even sure if it happened at all. Morbidly, she wonders if the old adage about cats always landing on their feet applies to Catra. When she hits the floor, she’s sure her lungs get ejected from her body entirely along with any and all of the muscle she ever had. Because of the way she jumped and fell, her legs took the impact, but it’s hard to tell at first because her whole body is screaming. When she blinks the fog away, the platform doesn’t really seem too far. Then her gaze focuses and it looks more like five stories than three yards. Adora groans and drags herself onto her stomach while her bones protest. This is insane, she’s She-Ra, and she should be fine. 

Her arms wobble when she pushes herself to her knees, but this is only a small setback. She has to get to Catra. With one bloody-tasting, centering breath Adora yanks herself up to her feet. Every law of gravity works against her, her legs feel slushy and strange and when she goes to take a step they feel like the color crimson looks. When she falls back down, there's a resounding crunch; they’re both broken. 

“Fuck!” She shouts. It echoes. 

It echoes… 

“Catra!” Adora settles for dragging herself towards the lump of fur and chrome a little ways away. “Catra?” She isn’t speaking, or moving. Tears well up in Adora’s eyes again. They should just stay there at this point, she thinks. “Catra, it’s okay.” She knows it’s for her own sake, but Adora hopes that Catra can hear her still. Any pain she was feeling is put on hold for now. Or… She tries to put it on hold, but the screaming in her legs is very hard to ignore. “It’s okay; I’m here.” 

Catra’s body is limp as Adora sits up and tugs her into her lap. The added weight against her broken bones makes her vision go white, but she struggles past it. Now Adora begins to cry for real. Sobbing in the empty space without the burden of battle or negotiations. Catra is gone. She’s not moving and Adora cant feel or hear her heart or breathing as she clutches her body to her chest. 

She is gone and it is all her fault for not acting sooner or being good enough. She promised to take Catra home… She promised. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know how you enjoyed this! I really did put my best into it and I am really happy with what I made :,)


End file.
